Purchase Intention of Specialty Coffee

Abstract

The main aims of this study are: (1) to test whether the theory of planned behavior (TPB) is useful to explain the intention to purchase specialty coffee; (2) to analyze whether people more involved in social responsibility could manifest a different response from those not so interested in this matter concerning specialty coffee. The sample is composed of 489 specialty coffee consumers from Brazil. The statistical tool for testing the measurement and structural model was partial least squares. Then a multigroup analysis was performed to meet the second objective; the software SmartPLS was utilized. The main contributions of this study are that we can explain the intention to use specialty coffee in a sample of Brazilian consumers using the classical TPB model. Moreover, we demonstrate the moderating effect of consumer perception of corporate social responsibility in this general model.

1. Introduction

Homemade cooking is essential for healthy food consumption among people [1]. However, the mishmash of the declining interest in home cooking and the decline in the population’s cooking skills is a fact in many homes across the world [2]. Nevertheless, coffee is an easy to prepare drink that is homemade in millions of homes but can also be consumed in restaurants and bars. However, there are many types of coffee with different properties and effects, and specialty coffee is a product that is increasing its sales.

According to the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe [3], “Specialty coffee is defined as a crafted quality coffee-based beverage, which is judged by the consumer (in a limited marketplace at a given time) to have a unique quality, a distinct taste and personality different from, and superior to, the common coffee beverages offered. The beverage is based on beans that have been grown in an accurately defined area, and which meet the highest standards for green coffee and its roasting, storage, and brewing.” Therefore, this is a “premium” or “gourmet” product. This type of coffee has arisen from the coffee industry, with a philosophy of expanding a better enjoyment of coffee consumption through excellent beans and better brewing techniques [4]. Coffee culture has augmented the knowledge for the art of making good quality coffee, leading to the initiation of specialty coffee to consumers. The demand for quality coffee, as well as a qualified service, has been documented as a demanding market issue [4]. However, what are the main antecedents of the purchase intention of specialty coffee? What drives some coffee consumers to choose this particular premium coffee? The theory of planned behavior is a theory that links one’s beliefs and conduct and could be used to understand the motivations to purchase a product [5]. This is one of the aims of this research: to comprehend what encourages consumers to buy specialty coffee.

Moreover, a new responsible shopper market is emerging whose consumption judgments are motivated by corporate social responsibility (CSR) concerns. Consequently, CSR has come into sight as an essential business issue that identifies the evolving interdependence between businesses and society [6,7]. One of the main objectives of the Specialty Coffee Association is the sustainability of this product. They promote the sustainable growth of the coffee industry through cooperative collaborations that practice equity, with a focus on mutual benefits, resulting in positive impacts [8]. From a global perspective, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) considers this type of practice and product necessary as a means for the sustainability of agriculture [9]. Considering the particularities of this specialty product, one may think that people more involved in social responsibility could manifest a different behavior from those not so interested in this matter. Testing the above affirmation is the other aim of this manuscript.

Nevertheless, why is this topic relevant to research? This question can be answered mainly from two perspectives. The first is because of the increasing consumption of specialty coffee in comparison to other types of coffee. This fact could generate a positive impact on global health because of the quality and excellent biochemical properties of this premium product. The second is related to the increasing relevance of sustainability and social responsibility of producers and consumers in the food market.

This work is in line with the 2030 goals of sustainable development proposed by the United Nations [10], more specifically, with objective 12 on responsible consumption and production. From an academic point of view, several lines of research converge in this work. In the first place, according to the argument of sustainability, our work is aimed at serving responsible consumption and production through corporate social responsibility [11,12,13]. Second, our work addresses the consumption and acceptance of a product, such as specialty coffee [14,15,16]. Thirdly, we apply the theory of planned behavior [5,17,18] to explain the consumption of specialty coffee. This theory has been widely applied to explain the consumption of certain foods; however, we did not find works aimed at specialty coffee.

To answer the questions that direct this work, the rest of the paper is structured as follows. First, we develop a review of the relevant literature on specialty coffee, the theory of planned behavior, and corporate social responsibility. As a result, we propose the research model. Second, we describe the methodology used to test the suggested research model. Third, we offer the main results obtained. Fourth, the results obtained are discussed and related to those of other investigations. We finish the work by offering the main conclusions, limitations, and future lines of research.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Specialty Coffee

The current coffee trade has been reached through several evolutions [4]. The development of companies such as Starbucks, which made the coffee shop experience the heart of their business, started in the 1960s. This is why, marketing tools, such as branding and product quality, were the keys to achieving success. Another wave of coffee drinking is about, in addition to the quality of coffee and the forms of roasting, seeking ethical and sustainable green bean purchasing, diverse brewing methods, and making coffee experiences for customers. In this context, in recent years, specialty coffee has gained interest. Specialty coffee refers to the highest quality of green coffee beans, has a known geographical origin, and mostly includes coffee beans certified as, for example, organic coffee (coffee grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides), fair trade (which promotes more significant economic incentives via a fair price and direct trade), and the rainforest alliance (this integrates biodiversity conservations, community development, and suitable agricultural practices to ensure sustainable farm management) [19].

The trend in the production and consumption of coffee has increased in recent years (

Table 1. Worldwide production and consumption of coffee (in thousands of 60 kg bags).

Coffee	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	Change
PRODUCTION	150,511	156,041	157,293	163,418	169,727	3.9%
Arabica	87,516	93,273	99,525	101,108	104,644	3.5%
Robusta	62,879	62,749	57,723	64,643	65,083	0.7%
Africa	15,730	15,885	17,265	17,691	18,206	2.9%
Asia and Oceania	46,365	49,343	45,341	46,759	48,677	4.1%
Mexico and Central America	17,486	16,955	19,768	21,634	21,718	0.4%
South America	70,930	73,858	74,920	77,334	81,126	4.9%
CONSUMPTION	150,841	155,452	158,283	161,372	164,769	2.1%
Exporting countries	46,505	47,548	48,458	49,598	50,257	1.3%
Importing countries (Coffee Years)	104,336	107,904	109,825	111,774	114,512	2.4%
Africa	10,706	11,014	11,179	11,532	11,876	3.0%
Asia and Oceania	31,596	32,911	34,244	34,571	35,839	3.7%
Mexico and Central America	5230	5153	5142	5197	5206	0.2%
Europe	50,991	52,140	52,043	53,155	53,967	1.5%
North America	27,363	28,934	29,559	29,941	30,606	2.2%
South America	24,955	25,300	26,116	26,976	27,274	1.1%
BALANCE	−330	589	−989	2464	4958

Source: http://www.ico.org/documents/cy2018-19/cmr-0819-e.pdf.

). This trend is positive for all types of coffee and all export and import markets.

Brazil is the world’s biggest producer and exporter of coffee, and with fourteen major coffee-producing regions, Brazil’s beans are a diverse mix. Furthermore, Brazil’s climate, with limited rain and long periods of sunlight, makes the country picture-perfect for natural processing. For this reason, the elaboration of specialty coffee in this country is relatively easy [20].

In Brazil, specialty coffee is a rapidly increasing market, stimulated by product-related events, research, and the opening of specialized shops [21]. The specialty coffee retail traded value exceeded R$1.7 billion in Brazil in 2016 but it is expected to reach R$4 billion in the coming years [22]. The typical profile of specialty coffee consumers in Brazil is men between 21 and 35 years old, belonging to Brazil’s upper classes, and having higher and/or postgraduate education [6].

According to some Brazilian authors, there are three primary type of consumers of specialty coffee: regular consumers (the least attracted by the habit of specialty coffee consumption), enthusiasts (motivated by both sensory matters and by issues related to information about the history and source of the beans and support for sustainable and socially responsible initiatives), and experts (their consumption is decidedly inspired by beverage taste and fragrance and the gratification in drinking it). Furthermore, the three most important criteria for buying specialty coffee were the roasting intensity/color, roasting date, and producer origin [22].

However, is coffee a healthy product? Some authors have made meta-analyses of observational and interventional studies of coffee consumption and health outcome [23]. They concluded that coffee drinking seems commonly safe within general levels of consumption, most suggesting a substantial risk reduction for several health outcomes at three to four cups a day, and more likely to do good to health than damage it. Nevertheless, coffee experiences a chemical transformation from the unroasted green bean, and the type of bean, degree of roasting, and preparation procedure including coffee grind setting and brew type all impact on the biochemical composition of the final drink [23].

According to the Specialty Coffee Association, this product, also identified as gourmet or premium coffee, is made of high-quality coffee beans, grown under ideal conditions, in climates perfectly suited to coffee plant growing. It features unique and distinctive tastes that usually reflect the qualities and characteristics of the soil and region that produces it. Their producers are committed to offering quality, taste selection, and freshness [7]. All these features should generate a healthier product.

The number of daily drinkers of specialty coffee has grown a lot in the US over the last two decades. Only 9% of adults in the US were drinking specialty coffee daily in 1999 and 41% were drinking it daily in 2017. Additionally, specialty drinkers were consuming 2.97 cups of coffee per day, and of all the cups of coffee consumed, 59% of them were specialty in 2017 [24].

In short, we can say that the consumption of specialty or premium coffee is increasing in many large countries, indicating a great future for this product.

2.2. Theory of Planned Behavior for Understanding the Specialty Coffee Consumer

Ajzen developed the theory of planned behavior (TPB). According to this author, rational bases found the acts of individuals. Furthermore, the TPB proposal assumes that the intentions and actions of people derive reasonably and consistently from their beliefs, regardless of how these beliefs were formed (e.g., by irrational processes). In this sense, the TPB models how human behavior is guided, that is to say, the TPB predicts the manifestation of a specific act whenever such action is intentional. In short, according to the TPB, to predict whether a person intends to do something, we need to know three issues. First, whether the person is in favor of doing it (termed attitude); second, how much social pressure this person feels to do it (termed subjective norm); third, whether the person feels control over the action in question (termed perceived behavioral control). A rise in any of these predictive variables increases the possibility of the person intending to perform a particular behavior and, therefore, increases the likelihood of the individual behaving in that way [5].

In addition to the factors that constitute the theory itself, the TPB enables inclusion and recognizes the potential importance of other variables, such as demographic characteristics, personality traits, general attitudes, human values, or intelligence [25]. While in general, for the TPB, these variables are considered as background factors and are expected to influence intention and behavior indirectly, literature also proposes that when a particular behavior has significant consequences for the welfare of others, the inclusion of moral norms enhances the predictive validity of the TPB [17].

The TPB is today one of the most popular models for understanding and predicting human behavior, and many researchers in a wide variety of domains, including food consumption, have applied this model successfully [18]. As an example of its wide-ranging application, in a recent study [26], the authors explain the intention of adopting a search engine that favors sustainable water management using the TPB as a basis. Moreover, the TPB model has been used to explain different behaviors of interest in Latin America [27,28]. Recent meta-analyses on the use of the TPB to understand food consumption indicate that this theory has statistically adequate power in explaining the intention of food consumption. Han and Hansen analyzed 16 empirical studies regarding TPB and sustainable food consumption, and their findings show that TPB has adequate power to explain the intention of sustainable food consumption. In particular, attitude (r = 0.62) and subjective norm (r = 0.55) show strong effects on the intention to consume [29]. McDermott and other authors analyzed the variables of TPB associated with discrete food choices in 42 studies, and their results indicated that attitude has the most active association with intention (r = 0.54) followed by perceived behavioral control (r = 0.42) and finally by subjective norm (r = 0.37) [30]. With relatively similar results, the same authors studied the association between the variables of the TPB and dietary patterns in 22 studies. In this case, the association between attitudes and intention was stronger (r = 0.61), followed by perceived behavioral control (r = 0.46) and subjective norm (r = 0.35) [31]. Finally, Nardi et al. reviewed 155 studies that applied the TPB to predict food choices. The results of these authors show the robustness in the application of the TPB model to predict food choice and, in particular, indicate that attitude is the strongest predictor of intention in this setting (r = 0.38) [32].

In food consumption settings, several authors have consistently referred to the variables of the TPB over the years. Attitude refers to the degree to which an individual has a favorable or unfavorable evaluation or assessment of the intention and behavior in question [33,34,35]. Perceived behavioral control refers to the degree to which an individual has a perception of the ease or difficulty of performing a particular behavior and is supposed to reflect the experience, as well as anticipated problems and facilitators. Finally, subjective norm refers to the degree to which the individual has a perception of social pressure to perform or not perform a given behavior [33,34,35,36].

Considering the elements presented above on the applicability of the variables of the TPB to explain the food consumption, and as shown in Figure 1, we propose the following hypotheses:

H1 :

There is a significant and positive relationship between attitude toward specialty coffee and intention to purchase specialty coffee.

H2 :

There is a significant and positive relationship between subjective norm and intention to purchase specialty coffee.

H3 :

There is a significant and positive relationship between perceived behavioral control and intention to purchase specialty coffee.

Figure 1 shows these hypotheses graphically.

2.3. Consumer Support for Corporate Social Responsibility in the Specialty Coffee Market

According to the European Commission (2011), corporate social responsibility (CSR), implies adapting to social, environmental, and/or ethical issues, as well as being concerned about the rights and considerations of the individual when carrying out their main strategy [37].

The social pressure for the achievement of powerful social initiatives and the personal efforts of managers and employees to carry out these experiences inspire organizations to work efficiently in achieving social goals. Nowadays, organizations have to maximize social benefits instead of prioritizing economic benefits. Therefore, the term social enterprise is quite noteworthy. With this concept, companies that “make money while benefiting the society in which they operate” are described [38].

Although the concept of CSR has been traditionally accepted as part of the operation of the company, today, this responsibility is not restricted to the domain of the company, but it encompasses the entire value chain. In that sense, CSR is proposed as one of the drivers of the development of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) [11]. SSCM addresses the management of the integration of economic and non-economic matters in a supply chain, promoting a system of business activities. In addition, SSCM is aligned throughout the entire product life cycle, creating value for all stakeholders, which ensure a constant success and the improvement of the well-being of people and the environment. In this regard, CSR issues include the interests of various stakeholder groups, consumers, local communities, and the natural environment. Another essential concept related to the SSCM is the circular economy (CE). The CE economic model targets the accomplishment of economic and environmental performance through innovative approaches to address the relationship between business and the environment [12]. CE pushes the frontiers of environmental sustainability by emphasizing the idea of transforming products in such a way that there are functional relationships between ecological systems and economic growth. Although the concept of SSCM was developed in parallel with the CE discourse, today it is assumed that the integration of both concepts has clear advantages from an environmental point of view. For example, due to technological and organizational innovations, it is estimated that the CE would generate enormous benefits for sectors such as food, due to savings in resource costs and externalities, such as the impact of air pollution on health [12].

The difficulties specialty coffee farmers cope with while seeking sustainability are not exclusive: climate change, labor scarcity, and a declining population of young farmers are concerns facing every agricultural product worldwide. The kind of cooperation necessary to sustain coffee occurs not only throughout the value chains, but also among firms and administrations, and between the coffee sector and other rural sectors [8]. According to the code of conduct of the Specialty Coffee Association, “The culture of the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) is based on honesty, mutual respect, support, and encouragement …. prohibits harassment, discrimination, and unethical behavior (incidents)…” [39]. These statements indicate the devotion of the main association of specialty coffee to CSR principles.

Nevertheless, buyers differ in their reactions to CSR initiatives. Companies must select pertinent CSR projects to safeguard successful marketing outcomes when operationalizing and positioning an organization’s CSR business initiatives [13].

Ramasamy and Yeung [40] made a distinction between ‘‘socially responsible consumption’’ and consumer perception of CSR. While the former addresses the social responsibility of the consumer’s actions and/or inactions, the latter deals with the significance the customer gives to socially responsible firms. If the customer considers the non-economic obligations of firms to be essential, they might reinforce the company by employing their socially responsible consumption in favor of the company.

The literature provides examples, on the one hand, of how to measure CSR in Latin America [41], and on the other, how CSR is an essential antecedent of corporate image, while the corporate image is an essential antecedent of behavioral intention in coffee shops [42]. Additionally, the level of institutional development of the country can explain the expectations of the consumer about the firms’ role in society [40]. Furthermore, culture is a critical determinant of CSR support [43]. For instance, Waldman et al. [44] studied the relationship between cultural dimensions and support for CSR by senior managers with data from 15 countries including Brazil. Their results indicate that CSR is more relevant in collectivist societies, and cultures that emphasize power distance values tend to diminish aspects of CSR. According to this analysis and bearing in mind the high valuation of Brazil as a collectivist society and its low valuation in the cultural dimension power distance, for Brazilian companies CSR emerges as a very relevant issue. However, does this support for CSR have effects on the Brazilian consumer, or are there institutional barriers to its expression?

According to these ideas, we propose that:

P1 :

Coffee consumers highly concerned about CSR principles will show a different behavior with regards to the TPB model than those with a low involvement with CSR ethics.

3. Materials and Methods

The sample is composed of specialty coffee consumers from Brazil, and it was collected between February and May in 2018. A pre-test was performed in order to test the questionnaire before the survey. The final sample size was 489 consumers of specialty coffee. We applied a non-random sampling method to choose respondents for the survey. The interviews were done online. Female respondents made up 71.2% of the total, 62% had tertiary education, and the average age was 32.9 years old.

We applied measurement scales extensively checked in the literature. The TPB scale translated into Portuguese was based on the studies of previous authors [45,46]. The scale for measuring consumers’ support of responsible businesses was adapted from Ramasamy and Yeung [40]. All the items were quantified using a seven-point Likert-type scale.

The statistical tool for testing the measurement and structural model was partial least squares. This is a type of structural equation modeling. Then a multigroup analysis was performed to test proposition 1, and the software SmartPLS was utilized. For this task, we divided the whole sample into two groups, one including 338 consumers highly interested in CSR (the cluster with the highest values of the standardized score). The second group included 151 consumers showing a low interest in CSR (the cluster with the lowest values of the standardized score).

4. Results

The first step was to compute an exploratory factor analysis in order to test whether the items of the scale were correctly classified.

Table 2. Rotated component matrix.

Item	Component
	1	2	3	4	5
PI1		0.867
PI2		0.868
PI3		0.904
ATT1				0.770
ATT2				0.824
SN1			0.771
SN2			0.851
PBC1					0.769
PBC2					0.868
CSCSR1	0.750
CSCSR2	0.831
CSCSR3	0.745
CSCSR4	0.839
CSCSR5	0.663

Principal component analysis, Varimax rotation with Kaiser normalization. PI1, PI2, and PI3 made up the construct purchase intention of specialty coffee; ATT1 and ATT2 corresponded to the attitude toward specialty coffee; SN1 and SN2 were subjective norms; PBC1 and PBC2 represented perceived behavioral control; and CSCSR1, CSCSR2, CSCSR3, CSCSR4, and CSCSR5 were consumer support for corporate social responsibility. Source: own elaboration.

showed that PI1, PI2, and PI3 made up the construct purchase intention of specialty coffee; ATT1 and ATT2 corresponded to the attitude toward specialty coffee; SN1 and SN2 were subjective norms; PBC1 and PBC2 represented perceived behavioral control; and CSCSR1, CSCSR2, CSCSR3, CSCSR4, and CSCSR5 were consumer support for corporate social responsibility.

The reliability and validity of the measurement models were computed taking into account the recommendations of the previous literature [47,48]. The measurement properties are presented in

Table 3. Construct reliability and validity.

Variable	rho_A	Composite Reliability	Average Variance Extracted
ATT	0.830	0.909	0.834
PI	0.902	0.938	0.835
PBC	0.677	0.844	0.731
SN	0.653	0.849	0.738

Source: own elaboration.

, and the results show a good performance.

The latent variable discriminant validity was confirmed by calculating whether the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) from each construct was above the correlations of the other latent variables, using the Fornell–Larcker test (

Table 4. Discriminant validity, Fornell–Larcker criterion.

Variable	ATT	PI	PBC	SN
ATT	0.913
PI	0.493	0.914
PBC	0.304	0.389	0.855
SN	0.422	0.203	0.170	0.859

Source: own elaboration.

). Furthermore, the heterotrait–monotrait test showed appropriate scores [49], all of them being under 0.9 (

Table 5. Discriminant validity, heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT).

Variable	ATT	PI	PBC
PI	0.572
PBC	0.418	0.505
SN	0.586	0.265	0.246

Source: own elaboration.

).

Furthermore,

Table 6. Fit summary.

Index	Saturated Model	Estimated Model
SRMR	0.071	0.071
Chi-square	592.775	592.775
NFI	0.679	0.679

Source: own elaboration.Notes: SRMR is Standardized Root Mean Square Residual; NFI is Normed Fit Index.

shows some indicators confirming the consistency of the general estimated model.

We can see the structural model, including the multigroup analysis in Figure 2. The relationship between the subjective norm and purchase intention of specialty coffee is not supported in any of the three models. R² is over 0.23 for the three models. However, it is higher in the model of low interest in CSCSR consumers.

As we mentioned earlier, we have developed a partial least square—multigroup analysis (PLS-MGA) to compare the behavior of the two groups: consumers with high social responsibility and consumers with low social responsibility. To do this, we followed the steps described in the literature [50].

Table 7. PLS-MGA results.

Relationships	Path Coefficients-Diff (|HIGH–LOW|)	P Values
		PLS-MGA	Parametric Test	Welch–Satterthwaite Test
ATT -> PI	0.250	0.987	0.050	0.030
PBC -> PI	0.027	0.379	0.794	0.762
SN -> PI	0.017	0.590	0.839	0.828

Source: own elaboration.

shows the multigroup results obtained from SmartPLS.

From Table 7 and Figure 2, we can affirm that proposition 1 is supported. Therefore, coffee consumers highly concerned about CSR principles show a different behavior with regards to the TPB model than those showing a low involvement with CSR ethics. Concretely, the relationship between attitude toward specialty coffee and purchase intention of this product is significantly stronger among low-involved respondents in CSR principles.

5. Discussion

This paper shows how the TPB model explains the purchase intention of specialty coffee for a sample of Brazilian consumers. Although there are many studies that have applied the TPB model to numerous new technologies [26,51], its application to the adoption of gourmet products is scarce and novel. The general model explains 30.6% of the variance of the dependent variable. This indicates a relatively good explanation power. There is a comparably strong and positive relationship between attitudes toward specialty coffee and the purchase intention of this product. Therefore, hypothesis 1 is confirmed. According to this, it is clear that consumers should have a good attitude toward this product before purchasing. Furthermore, perceived behavioral control presents a positive and significant relationship with the dependent construct. Hypothesis 3 is confirmed too. Considering that this is a product for personal and daily consumption, and many people are able to pay for it, the behavioral intention of drinking it is a suitable antecedent of purchase intention. This could be a source of sustainable development for a traditional consumer product such as specialty coffee. In addition, the perception of the supply chain as an ecologically responsive entity could play a part in a significant improvement of the image of this product [11]. Due to the incessant deterioration of the Earth’s natural environment, more and more serious resource shortages, and increasing public awareness of environmental defense, buyers now demand greener products and services and intensifying regulation of environment-related conduct [50]. This social trend could encourage the consumption of this product in the near future. The relationship between subjective norms and purchase intention of specialty or premium coffee is not significant, not supporting hypothesis 2. Subjective norms regularly appear as the weakest predictor of intentions in applications of the TPB [3,17]. The fact that this hypothesis is not supported in this case is not rare. The reason is that coffee is a socially accepted consumer product, and almost everyone consumes it. Specialty or premium coffee is not so usual, but as a premium product, if someone can afford it, and it tastes better, is healthier, and more socially responsible, why would important people for consuming this particular coffee be against the purchase of this product? One possible explanation for this result comes from the ability to distinguish this product from its competitors. For example, in a restaurant, to distinguish visually a specialty coffee from another type of coffee is quite difficult. If producers achieve a greater identification with their brand, making their consumption more visible, this will possibly increase the effect of subjective norms on purchase intention.

Another noteworthy inference of this paper is the fact that proposition 1 is supported. Therefore, coffee consumers highly concerned about CSR principles behave differently with regards to the TPB model than those showing a low involvement in CSR ethics. Consequently, Brazilian consumers of specialty coffee included in the study drink this product influenced by their ethical perception of the firms that produce it. In consumers highly involved concerning CSR, the effect of the attitude toward specialty coffee explains the intention to consume it less. On the other hand, for low-involved consumers in CSR principles, the attitude toward the product has a more significant effect on the intention to consume it. The above indicates that the good properties and the higher quality of this coffee could be the intrinsic reasons why this latter group of consumers of this product drink it. In this sense, variables such as price-value, enjoyment, or visibility of consumption can be potential predictors. However, high-involved respondents show a worse explanation of the dependent latent variable. For this group of people, other variables not included in this study, such as environmental consciousness or eco-friendly behavior, could better explain the construct. This indicates that for these consumers the intrinsic quality of the product is not the main purchase driver, as occurs for the other group (low-involved in CSR principles).

6. Conclusions

The contributions of this paper for academics are the following. First of all, there is scant literature about the consumption of specialty coffee, especially in an emerging country like Brazil, which is a world-leading country in the production of this product. Second, we can explain the intention to use specialty coffee in a sample of Brazilian consumers by utilizing the classical TPB model. However, subjective norms are not an antecedent of purchase intention of specialty coffee. Third, we analyze the moderating effect of CSR in this general model.

For practitioners in the field of specialty coffee, the fact that CSR is affecting the intention to purchase this product in this sample is exciting. This indicates that the focus of advertising oriented to consumers of premium coffee in Brazil should be about both the quality attributes or healthier characteristics of this product and other elements related to corporate social responsibility. Specialty coffee shops, hotels, resorts, and restaurant chains should focus on educating and teaching the consumer about the product to boost the specialty coffee enjoyment and market demand, as other authors claim [4]. To replicate this study in developed countries to test whether this fact is present would be quite interesting. Studies elaborated in other societies where the principles of corporate social responsibility are more important for people would show a different result.

Employing careful coffee-producing methods and controlled fermentation procedures, coffee producers may raise their revenue by guaranteeing high standards of quality and superior added value for the coffee experience sector [8]. Perhaps specialty coffee sellers should also take into account performing a sustainable supply chain management, because this product usually travels long distances from its place of origin to the demanding cities. Specialty coffee is quickly increasing in importance, and its influence on smallholder coffee producers is noticeable [20].

As limitations, we can mention the size of the sample, which is not representative of the Brazilian population. To replicate the same study in other countries with different socio-economical contexts would also be quite interesting. In addition, the inclusion of other variables related to environmental consciousness expanding the TPB model is quite interesting for future research.